This invention relates to an ice chest type cooler for motor vehicles and more particularly to a food and drink cooler adapted for storage within the trunk of an automobile while having the interior thereof accesssible from within the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Conventional food and drink coolers adapted for use when picnicking or the like, unless of a small size such as not to be convenient for use by a number of people such as a family, when taken to the picnic area by automobile must be stored within the trunk of the automobile and are not accessible to the passengers unless the automobile is stopped and the cooler is retrieved from the trunk. Such coolers may also be used when the family is on a trip; and where children are passengers, the stopping of the automobile to retrieve food and drink can be a repetitious inconvenience.
In conventional ice chest type coolers the chest comprises a storage compartment for the food, drink and ice. Entrance to the interior of the chest is through a closure member at the top which is removable for placing therein and removal therefrom of the food, drink and ice. The great advantage of these coolers is their portablity and economics both in initial cost and in use. However, as aforesaid when used in conjunction with an automobile trip, they must be stored in the trunk.
In view of such inconveniences of the prior art coolers having sufficient size to accommodate the needs of a family or the like when traveling in an automobile, the prior art has proposed food and drink coolers which are built into the automobile. For example, in Saterlie U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,952 an automobile refreshment bar is fixedly mounted in the trunk of the automobile and accessible to the passenger compartment through a pivotably moving portion of the rear seat. In this proposal the food and drink storage portion is fixedly mounted within the trunk, although an ice container is removeably attached to the bottom thereof. This provides a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is that the food and drink must be placed within the storage portion from within the vehicle rather than being filled at home, and that the cooling portion is separate from the storage portion so that the cooling is inefficient. In Gaus U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,211 a refrigeration unit is built into a pedestal of a vehicle between two seats. This however, not only reduces the available space for passengers within the vehicle and provides a clear inconvenience considering the small size of most contemporary autombiles, but additionally the unit requires power for running a motor, compressor and fan and this power must be taken from the vehicle power supply.
It is known that in at least the Volvo automobile a rectangular opening is provided in a partition between the trunk and the passenger compartment, this opening being known as a "ski hole" and is provided so that skies may be stored within the trunk and, rather than projecting outwardly beyond the rear of the vehicle, extend forwardly into the passenger compartment. The opening, which is approximately five inches by seven inches, accommodates a cross sectional configuration conforming to one or two pairs of skies. Such holes have no other known function.